[Build up.]

[a moment.]

A moment to pause & remember something that has happened this week in our lives.

(I got this idea from soulemama's blog.)

It has to be done.

I am potty training this little cutie this week. He looks pretty innocent here, but he sure can be a pain also. We are about to start on day 3 of this whole potty training experience & I guess I can say it has been going pretty good. The book I read, 3 day potty training, makes it really seem simple & their is a clear way to get your child going in 3 days or less. We will see if it proves right with Rudd, he can be a bit stubborn. I did this same method with Dax & he was trained in 1 day. I am trying not to compare Rudd to Dax, but 2 days down & we are still going strong. I may be needing a serious break by the end of the week, but for now, it is 1 day at a time. Hoping today is the magic, he gets it, kind of day.

Man, he is cute!

Jewelry making: the process.

I wanted to share a bit of the process with you. I actually think this is going to be a new category that I come back to often. I like the idea of sharing & capturing & remembering how this whole jewelry process, that I love so much is done.

I found a cool app on my iPhone for self-timer photos, called timercam, which worked perfect. & since the only people home, were 4 years old or younger, that wasn't going to make for the best photo of what I was actually trying to capture.

Ok, back at it. I was making a ring here. Rings are one of those things that doesn't require too many steps,  at least the ring I was making, which is this one, but no matter how many steps it takes to get from nothing to something, I love this process. I love starting with raw materials, in this case silver & making something wearable. Something for someone, who hopefully will wear & enjoy it for a very long time!

I really do love making custom jewelry & I hope you check out my creations in my shop!

weekends. when vintage has a story.

The image above has a story to go with it. I found this island at a local shop called Modern Manor, the store has random vintage furniture & other accessories. I happened in about a year & a half ago with a friend, I had never been in this particular store before, but had been in many stores in the area before (7th ave area). I didn't even really know what I was looking for that day, until I saw this island. David & I had recently bought a house & were remodeling it & I was wanting/needing a new island for the kitchen.

This was the PERFECT solution.

I practically screamed out, because I was so excited. I got my act together, went over to the shop owner & asked how much it was & what the story was behind it. She told me it was from an old bakery & she had just got it in a few days before, but wasn't positive if she was going to sell it. She said she had to call her husband about it. So she did, & I even talked to him right there on the phone. I called David & told him how cool it was. Then I called my sister, Tricia to tell her how cool it was.

It was a lot of money though.

So, I said, can you put it on hold & I will come back tomorrow with my husband & other confidant, my sister.

The next day we came back as soon as they were going to be open with cash in hand. It was one of those pieces of furniture that I knew would be perfect & I would regret forever if I didn't buy it.

Funny thing is, I went in to this shop this past weekend. & before I could get my feet in the door the owner said, "I want that island back, I should have never sold it, my wife & I just bought a house that it would be perfect in." I quickly replied, "I don't think I could ever part with it & it fits perfectly in my kitchen."

Of course he was joking, but really I think he regrets ever selling it to me. & I have to tell you, It really was one of those decisions that I would never take back. It houses so much stuff that I use everyday in my kitchen. Plus it just fits in our house.

I have to say, I think it is my favorite piece of furniture that we own, plus what a great story, right?

our garage gym.

This is our garage. It has turned into quite the crossfit gym. David, my husband, has been working hard to be crossfit certified & be able to start training a few people. My good friend Lorie wrote up a great post about how she has been working out in our garage & how she is loving it.

This is my husband.

I am so proud of him & all his hard work to follow this dream of his. He is a very determined person & knows what he wants & will do anything to achieve it. You can follow his crossfit adventure or even start working out with him, check it out here, Build Up Crossfit.

A little bit of shine.

I am sure this idea has been around for a while. The freezer paper t shirt making idea, that is. You can find better instructions here. I have also put step by step instructions below. But ever since my neighbor made shirts for her son's bday party for all the kids, I have been wanting to play around with making some designs. Of course, I didn't really think through the whole process of needing shirts to print on, when I started making this, this morning, but I did have a few tshirts that were blank, that I didn't care much about, so I figured those would work perfect.

And they did!

I need to get a picture of me wearing them. But what I figured was that I could use the stencil I cut out & also the insides of the stencil & make a shirt out of that as well. The freezer paper iron's on so easily to the shirt that it was not a problem or hard at all to get it all lined up. Plus, I am not very particular about making things exactly straight. I love the messiness of them.

Instructions for making freezer paper t shirts:

materials needed:

freezer paper (like a butcher uses for wrapping meat)

craft knife

pencil

idea of what you want to cut out

iron

fabric paint

foam brush

printer paper or paper towel

 

Instructions:

1. draw or trace design on to freezer paper

2. cut out design with craft knife

3. iron design on to t shirt

4. paint with foam brush & fabric paint

5. let dry, then peel off freezer paper

6. place paper or paper towel over tshirt, where design is & iron for about 30 seconds, to heat set design.

7. First time you wash the shirt, do it inside out.

8. Enjoy!! & make a ton more, cause it is fun & addicting.

ride it out+embrace the chaos.

The way yesterday started all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole before I went insane. I had 3 very whiny kids with all sorts of problems. Or so it seemed. I was just going from one mess & crying fit to the other. Things did go up hill from here. My awesome sister came to my rescue & took Dax & Rudd to the park & Ollie took a nap. That was bliss. I worked on jewelry & got my house picked up. Nice.

Then when David got home from work, I went mountain biking. I went by myself, which is not my favorite thing to do, I would much rather go with my awesome friend, Lorie. But if she can't go, it does make for a pretty good time to think, to remember to breathe & be grateful for every blessing in my life. Because I am blessed. It is the perfect time to be inspired, it is the perfect time to reflect on how to be a better mom & what I can improve on (this would be patience & staying calm). When I got home I wanted to give all 3 of my boys a giant hug & tell them that I will try to be a better mom. I will try to say yes more, instead of in just a minute.

This is hard. But for sure worth it.

& the fact that I can take the time to go on a ride & rejuvinate is simply amazing.

Today: I will be more patient. I will go to target. I will have a meeting. I will sit down on the floor & play with my boys. I will go mountain biking. & I shouldn't expect much more...

go.

I like the color orange. This is no secret. I forget sometimes how much I am drawn to this color. But apparently I am.

Once in a while I get a few minutes of time in my studio, get this, all by myself. with no one else home, or all asleep. & when I say once in a while, I mean it's happened maybe 3 times in the past 12 months. It reminds me that I need more of it.

I will turn on pandora, to one of my favorite stations, like Ben Howard, or Deer Tick, or Mumford & sons radio. & I will get out my art journal & just do whatever comes to mind.

& guess what, it is an awesome feeling.

With 3 very small children taking up most every moment of my day, it is hard to find the quite. It's hard to remember to grasp these moments that I get to myself.I don't want to use having 3 small children as an excuse to not create, to not be the artist I want to be, but dang, it is hard. I am determind to change that though.

I need to make art for the sake of making art. for me. to help me along in this journey I call being an artist, a mother & needing the creative to flow.

It seems that time spent doing something like art journaling or writing or just this process doesn't get put at the top of the list of things that NEED to be done during the day, if it even makes the list at all.

But things are going to change.

I need this.

I need to get my creative juices flowing again. To feel like an artist. To make it important again.

Don't get caught up, just start. GO.

[a moment.]

A moment to pause & remember something that has happened this week in our lives.

(I got this idea from soulemama's blog.)

Starting out right. right?

To start off this new year of 2012 we drove home from San Diego. Awesome! really it was horrible. The kids were fussy & whiny & all of the above the whole time. But we are home now. & they are asleep & I am happy. It was actually a great trip to San Diego & I am glad we went, the trip home just sucked butt.

Thanks Mom & Dad, it is always crazy fun to visit the condo!! Dax is convienced that we need to live there. (I agree)